For he had dominion over the entire region west of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River; and he had shalom on all sides around him.
Bnei-Yisrael secretly did things against Adonai their God that were not right. They built shrines for themselves in all their settlements—from watchtowers to fortified cities,
Now those whose names are recorded came during the days of King Hezekiah of Judah. They attacked the encampments of the Hamites, as well as the Meunim who were found there, and utterly wiped them out to this very day. They settled in their place because there was pasture there for their flocks.
He also built towers in the wilderness and dug out many cisterns because he had much livestock, and he had farmers in the foothills and in the plain and vinedressers in the mountains and in the fertile fields—for he loved the soil.
while the Philistines had raided the towns in the foothills and in the South of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth-shemesh, Aijalon and Gederot, as well as Soho, Timnah and Gimzo with their villages.
Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia, that the rod that struck you is broken. For from the serpent’s root comes a viper and its fruit will be a flying serpent.
He dug it out and cleared its stones, planted it with a choice vine, built a tower in the midst of it, and even cut out a winepress. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.
Ashdod, its dependencies and its villages; Gaza, its dependencies and its villages, all the way to the Wadi of Egypt and the coastline of the Great Sea.